Would you save your baby's cord blood?

Okay, REALLY random post, I know, but I was watching a show last night ('Paralyzed and Pregnant', which was really interesting btw) and this couple decided to save their new baby's umbilical cord blood... mainly with hopes, I'm sure, of helping the mother who injured her spinal cord.

It got me thinking about how helpful cord blood could be so I did some research and found 2 different companies, both which cost about $2000 to get the blood, then about $125 a year to save it.

Would you do it? If not... why? I know cost is a huge factor but I know one company offered a payment plan so I am debating it (not like I have to worry about it any time soon). Then again, what if you never use it? By the time your child is 18 you will have spent close to $5000... for nothing.

What about you? I'm creating a poll and I hope people will respond because I'm curious as to other people's opinions.

Okay... I just realized that this could probably go to IMO (man I really stink at deciding where threads need to go)... I guess it depends on how people react to the topic.

I'll do that, but I wouldn't pay the price. It doesn't cost much for samples to be stored in liquid nitrogen. People do that all the time. I'll probably do it myself.

I don't think this would be an IMO topic. I mean, cord blood is just body fluids.....it's not like you harm the baby to get it......the blood would normally be just thrown away.

ETA: It is a good idea for people to keep vials of their children's blood in the freezer (not cord blood). It makes it so much easier to find their children in case they go missing.

I suppose if I learned before the baby was born, through amnio or whatever, that he or she had some sort of degenerative condition that could potentially be helped by the cord blood at some point in the future, then I would do it. (I sucked at biology in school, so I don't even know if that makes sense.) But otherwise I wouldn't do it. It's not so much the money it's just that it's not my personality to anticipate misfortune like that. That will probably leave me unprepared for a lot of things as I get older, but that's just the way my mind works. When I had heart surgery in January, it didn't even occur to me to give blood for myself ahead of time in case I needed it during the operation, even though I know that's something people do all the time (someone asked me later if I had done it, and I was like, "Uh...no.").

I'd probably do it if I had an extra $2000, and then $125p mos to spend. It's not that it's not a good idea, or beneficial, it's just that the normal working person can't afford an extra payment like that when you have formula & diapers to buy.

If money weren't an issue yes. You never know what may happen and it they will need it. I am always paranoid about crazy stuff happening and needing somethin I don't have.

Oh I guess I should vote, lol. Well I voted maybe because I think it's a good idea, especially if I can find a payment plan and pay $50 a month instead of $2000 upfront (which one of the companies offers). That being said, I'd have to convince my husband...

OOOooooo.....I see a honeymoon baby coming.

i would have done it if it was available when my kids were born. if something that easy could save there life one day then it would be money well spent

I banked both of my children's cord blood. My granparents offered us the collection fees as gifts, but we pay the yearly maintenance. Its good to know you've got it, but if we didn't get the generous gift, we likely wouldn't have done it.

I don't understand why they don't bank the cord blood for general use. Like with regular blood donations. I think cord blood is better than regular blood. Of course, if I was rich, I would love to keep it just for my child's use, but that isn't an option. But when my last child was born and I asked about donating the cord blood, I couldn't do that either. Of course, I had him at a smaller hospital...

So do I vote yes, no or maybe?

AnnasMom, that is a great gift to give a newborn...yay for your grandparents!

Originally Posted by shengmei

OOOooooo.....I see a honeymoon baby coming.

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Lol, definitely not!!

Originally Posted by Beckiboo

But when my last child was born and I asked about donating the cord blood, I couldn't do that either. Of course, I had him at a smaller hospital...

So do I vote yes, no or maybe?

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You can donate cord blood, I've found it in many different sites. It does depend on the hospital though, since you had your baby at a small hospital they probably weren't equipped. And it's cool that when you donate it, it's free... that would stink if you had to pay when your own child wasn't even benefiting.

I think you'd vote yes since you believe in the importance of cord blood, right?

I just read the original post that said they were banking it to help the mom?! There is a very small amount of cord blood and ALL of it would be needed if the child were to become ill with a disease that CB therapy could resolve. Its like the people that have new babies to help their older sick child. (I've seen a show where they got pregnant for the sole purpose of harvesting the babys' blood--they had IVF so they could hand pick the embryo for impantation.) I think that's crossing some sort of line.

Well the documentary gave no indication of them having the child for the purpose of saving the blood, it seemed like an independant decision... just for the record.

My husband and I were actually talking about this the other day...when thoughts were of babies...and we couldn't make up our minds either. The money really is a big issue right now, but when the time comes, if its not, then we probably won't think a bit about it. I really do want to do more research on it though before I completely make up my mind.

You can save the cord blood for free!!!

http://www.marrow.org/HELP/donate_cord_blood.html

If somebody else matches your child, your child can save somebody else's life or be used for research to save even more people. If your child ever gets extremely ill, I am pretty sure they can return the donation for a small fee.

No I wouldn't no reason other than I just wouldn't.
Life is full of risk
Living in America surely far better off getting really good medical cover with the money?
too late for me anyways my baby is 7!

Okay I just realized (yes I'm a bit slow, I know) that what happens if you have more than one child? I mean, say you decide preserving the cord blood is a good idea. Great. Then you decide to have another child... would you do the same thing? I mean, if doing it for one child is expensive, imagine two! And there's the fact that the cord blood could be used for the sibling, could being the operative word as it wouldn't be a perfect match. Plus, can you imagine telling your 2nd child why you saved the cord blood from the first born and not the next one? Eek.

I think people should definitely donate the cord blood if they are not planning to keep it themselves. I mean, the blood would only be thrown away otherwise and wasted. If the blood is donated then people could be saved from it.